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Article review from The Inertia
Can’t tell you how often I hear surfer mates complain about sore or stiff back, even younger folk. We tend to take our back for granted, but as we age, our back often reminds us that we need to pay it some attention, especially if we want to continue surfing youthfully. Its like anything else really with exercise; ease into conditioning, especially if you are somewhat deconditioned. Then build up your strength and flexibility slowly, but steadily. In my opinion, flexibility is the crucial component of surfing longevity.
Post-surf sesh stretching is crucial, as well as combining hydration and nutritional supplementation to counter inflammation. I posted an entire volume of The Edge recently on the therapeutic benefits of turmeric as a powerful anti-inflammatory; just ask Laird and Kelly about turmeric. A little secret: use raw turmeric root and grate it or the powder form, mix with a little coconut oil and ground black pepper for almost 1000 times better absorption and efficacy than just turmeric alone.
In the meantime, here is a short, yet quite functional article focusing on your back; from Gershom Borlai at The Inertia…
Noodle arms suck. They hurt, yes. But they also effectively end your session after diminishing your performance after a period of paddling. Some surfers have greater endurance than others, but we’ve all run into the familiar spaghetti arm fatigue at least once.
Incorrect paddling posture is one of the main reasons we get tired too fast sometimes. Something as simple as the proper posture will help you exert paddling power as efficiently as possible, taking the unnecessary strain off those formerly gassed triceps.
This is one exercise that can help build the right posture for your paddling.
Do a hyperextension with straight arms pointing forward. Three sets for 60 seconds each.
Do the drill in this sequence:
-Lie on your stomach.
-Raise your chest, legs, arms from the ground.
-Squeeze your glutes and the lower part of your back and raise up the upper body.
-Hold your arms straight next to your ears, with your thumbs up (if you would look from the top, your arms would form a V shape)
Make sure you do the drill the right way:
-Keep your arms straight and reach forward instead of bending the elbows.
-If you find the drill too easy to do, hold an extra weight in your hand (e.g. 0.5 liter water bottles, or 1-2 kg weights).
If you find this too difficult, go back to the previous exercise here.
Make sure you practice this and let me know if this helped you, or what you want me to cover next by emailing me at gershon@boostyoursurf.com.
Keep your back front and center, keep your edge.
Check out Dreams with Kelia Moniz – Roxy Wahine Classic 2011…
